Is there a way to experience a stripped-down version of the internet?
October 5, 2024 4:13 PM Subscribe
I’m on iOS and usually use Safari or Firefox. I want to use the internet like it’s 1999, ie with no bloat, cookies, even images if possible. Light and fast loading and no ads = what I’m after.
Are websites still constructed in a way that allows this?
In the past I used browser extensions that blocked cookies - is that still advisable? Which work with safari and Firefox today? Does using them make it difficult to use websites that require passwords?
Are websites still constructed in a way that allows this?
In the past I used browser extensions that blocked cookies - is that still advisable? Which work with safari and Firefox today? Does using them make it difficult to use websites that require passwords?
Best answer: I was reading about https://lite.cnn.com which is a pared down version of the website with much less overhead. During periods of high-natural-disaster I see many of those being sent around. I saw one recently that I can't re-find but this list is one that is crowdsourced and maintained.
There are a few separate issues
- bloat - how big a website is and how much javascript it's trying to load, that list will help
- cookies - usually has more to do with sites tracking you around the internet, and privacy. If you disallow cookies you can run into password issues unless you're also using a password manager
- ads - many websites can't survive without ads (this is one) but that doesn't mean they all play nice with people's preferences and desires. There are totally good ad-blocking extensions (even on iOS) which help with this
Many pages are just no longer designed to work quickly because people who build them believe we've all got ubiquitous broadband and all the time in the world.
posted by jessamyn at 4:46 PM on October 5, 2024 [10 favorites]
There are a few separate issues
- bloat - how big a website is and how much javascript it's trying to load, that list will help
- cookies - usually has more to do with sites tracking you around the internet, and privacy. If you disallow cookies you can run into password issues unless you're also using a password manager
- ads - many websites can't survive without ads (this is one) but that doesn't mean they all play nice with people's preferences and desires. There are totally good ad-blocking extensions (even on iOS) which help with this
Many pages are just no longer designed to work quickly because people who build them believe we've all got ubiquitous broadband and all the time in the world.
posted by jessamyn at 4:46 PM on October 5, 2024 [10 favorites]
I feel like I get close using ublock and a JavaScript blocker on Firefox. It's not perfect but usually gets rid of a lot of crud.
posted by Carillon at 5:32 PM on October 5, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by Carillon at 5:32 PM on October 5, 2024 [3 favorites]
marginalia is a niche search engine that can dig up oldschool pages
posted by BungaDunga at 6:31 PM on October 5, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by BungaDunga at 6:31 PM on October 5, 2024 [1 favorite]
You might be interested in uMatrix, which is an (unmaintained but functional) extension that lets you choose exactly what to load for what domain. I have it set to default to not load third-party scripts or cookies at all. A lot of pages need to be hand-whitelisted to make functional but a lot don't.
posted by BungaDunga at 6:32 PM on October 5, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by BungaDunga at 6:32 PM on October 5, 2024 [1 favorite]
The best answer here would be "install uBlock Origin", but as of a couple days ago, that may or may not be an option for you, depending on your comfort level with sideloading, and with apps that no longer update.
But to answer your question: in general, ads drive the internet, so no, websites are not constructed in a way that easily allows browsing the internet without them. The combination of AdBlock Plus and Ghostery will probably get you close to what you want, but browsing will never be as good/quick/seamless as it was Back In Those Days (but also: was it really that good then? on dialup?).
In the past I used browser extensions that blocked cookies - is that still advisable?
Define "advisable". It's perfectly fine to block cookies; it does make online life more manual, because for all their badness, cookies are the grease that lubricates people's internet experience, as it were. Cookies save login IDs, they save visit histories, they save all sorts of things (to be clear: this can be both good and bad!) that make repeated visits to websites quicker and easier. Whether you think this is acceptable is an individual decision, there's no single right answer.
If you don't care that a website thinks each visit to their site is your first, block cookies using whichever extension works best for you. If you value the convenience of a site remembering you, don't.
posted by pdb at 10:10 PM on October 5, 2024 [1 favorite]
But to answer your question: in general, ads drive the internet, so no, websites are not constructed in a way that easily allows browsing the internet without them. The combination of AdBlock Plus and Ghostery will probably get you close to what you want, but browsing will never be as good/quick/seamless as it was Back In Those Days (but also: was it really that good then? on dialup?).
In the past I used browser extensions that blocked cookies - is that still advisable?
Define "advisable". It's perfectly fine to block cookies; it does make online life more manual, because for all their badness, cookies are the grease that lubricates people's internet experience, as it were. Cookies save login IDs, they save visit histories, they save all sorts of things (to be clear: this can be both good and bad!) that make repeated visits to websites quicker and easier. Whether you think this is acceptable is an individual decision, there's no single right answer.
If you don't care that a website thinks each visit to their site is your first, block cookies using whichever extension works best for you. If you value the convenience of a site remembering you, don't.
posted by pdb at 10:10 PM on October 5, 2024 [1 favorite]
frogfind is a search engine built for older machines and it renders the links you click on in a stripped down, mostly text fashion.
posted by roue at 10:12 PM on October 5, 2024 [3 favorites]
posted by roue at 10:12 PM on October 5, 2024 [3 favorites]
How to disable image loading in various browsers.
posted by flug at 1:05 AM on October 6, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by flug at 1:05 AM on October 6, 2024 [1 favorite]
The best answer here would be "install uBlock Origin", but as of a couple days ago, that may or may not be an option for you
AFAICT uBlock Origin is still in Mozilla's add-ons store. It's only the Lite variant built for Firefox that got taken down, and only Chromium-based browsers actually require the Lite variant.
posted by flabdablet at 3:10 AM on October 6, 2024 [2 favorites]
AFAICT uBlock Origin is still in Mozilla's add-ons store. It's only the Lite variant built for Firefox that got taken down, and only Chromium-based browsers actually require the Lite variant.
posted by flabdablet at 3:10 AM on October 6, 2024 [2 favorites]
I’m honestly not sure you can accomplish this dream. There are things going on under the hood of many websites today that often render older browsers unable to fully display the sites. I have an old first-gen iPad Air that I use a lot, and I increasingly hit websites that don’t fully display, or don’t display at all.
Take MeFi fave for sharing images, Imgur, for instance. On this old iPad, everything on Imgur displays except the images. Why? Imgur’s whole reason for being is to display images, but there’s some function/layer/script/whatever at work that does not play nice with older browsers.
Then there are places (like news sites) that display everything bit the text. Just a header and a footer, but nothing in-between. Hell, I’ve been to sites that completely load, everything visible and scrollable, but then something in the background loads at the last second that changes the fully loaded page into a blank white window.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:34 AM on October 6, 2024 [1 favorite]
Take MeFi fave for sharing images, Imgur, for instance. On this old iPad, everything on Imgur displays except the images. Why? Imgur’s whole reason for being is to display images, but there’s some function/layer/script/whatever at work that does not play nice with older browsers.
Then there are places (like news sites) that display everything bit the text. Just a header and a footer, but nothing in-between. Hell, I’ve been to sites that completely load, everything visible and scrollable, but then something in the background loads at the last second that changes the fully loaded page into a blank white window.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:34 AM on October 6, 2024 [1 favorite]
See also this semi-recent ask, https://ask.metafilter.com/380461/What-news-websites-have-lite-versions
posted by TheAdamist at 4:35 AM on October 6, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by TheAdamist at 4:35 AM on October 6, 2024 [1 favorite]
I use ublock origin and noscript. I don't use ublock to block all images, but I could. I do use its element blocker to remove lots of cruft from pages I visit often.
There are sites where all this works fine. There are sites where the functionality is limited (mostly because of noscript's javascript blocking) but it doesn't make the site unusable, just reduces cruft. There are some sites where I have to enable all kinds of scripts in order to get functionality.
I think that's kind of the best you can hope for: per-site results, with a bunch of manual work, rather than across-the-board lightness.
posted by trig at 8:20 AM on October 6, 2024 [2 favorites]
There are sites where all this works fine. There are sites where the functionality is limited (mostly because of noscript's javascript blocking) but it doesn't make the site unusable, just reduces cruft. There are some sites where I have to enable all kinds of scripts in order to get functionality.
I think that's kind of the best you can hope for: per-site results, with a bunch of manual work, rather than across-the-board lightness.
posted by trig at 8:20 AM on October 6, 2024 [2 favorites]
Hell, I’ve been to sites that completely load, everything visible and scrollable, but then something in the background loads at the last second that changes the fully loaded page into a blank white window.
Yeah, those are ridiculous. Sometimes script blocking stops this, and sometimes using an extension that lets you get rid of overlays will fix it. (The element blocker in ublock origin can do that, though there are also simpler overlay deleters.)
posted by trig at 8:22 AM on October 6, 2024 [1 favorite]
Yeah, those are ridiculous. Sometimes script blocking stops this, and sometimes using an extension that lets you get rid of overlays will fix it. (The element blocker in ublock origin can do that, though there are also simpler overlay deleters.)
posted by trig at 8:22 AM on October 6, 2024 [1 favorite]
frogfind is a search engine built for older machines and it renders the links you click on in a stripped down, mostly text fashion.
posted by roue at 10:12 PM on October 5
I don't know if it's a temporary issue or an ongoing on, but Firefox gave me a security warning "Secure connection failed and Firefox did not connect") and wouldn't connect to frogfind.
posted by sardonyx at 7:53 PM on October 6, 2024
posted by roue at 10:12 PM on October 5
I don't know if it's a temporary issue or an ongoing on, but Firefox gave me a security warning "Secure connection failed and Firefox did not connect") and wouldn't connect to frogfind.
posted by sardonyx at 7:53 PM on October 6, 2024
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posted by BobTheScientist at 4:17 PM on October 5, 2024 [5 favorites]